2009 Cap

[nero THE zero]

I don't understand how a team with ~$1M in cap room can function when it still has to sign its draft picks and inevitably sign street FA through the course of the season.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

I don't understand how a team with ~$1M in cap room can function when it still has to sign its draft picks and inevitably sign street FA through the course of the season.

They make cap casualties before June 1st, right?

[Keith]

There's no significance to June 1st this year with the expiring CBA.

But yeah, the teams are going to have to cut or restructure, but not until they are ready to actually ink the draft picks, which probably won't be until mid- to late-July for most teams.

What I can't understand re: the Texans cap is how they apparently lost another $2 million or so in cap room from the last report with no reported moves I haven't already accounted for. Something is either wrong or unreported.

With this possibly being the last cap year, it makes no sense to try to accelerate cap hits with the extra space for this year (since they are already above the floor), so I'm a bit lost at the moment. Hopefully this will get resolved in the next month or two.

[Keith]

Teams were informed by the league Wednesday that the 2009 cap is jumping by almost $1 million to $128 million, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told FOXSports.com. ...

The latest increase is $947,000. Aiello said the extra money, which resulted from accounting figures that were finalized in May, would normally be applied toward the following year's cap. That isn't possible for 2010 because this will be the final year of the cap unless the league reaches agreement with the NFL Players Association on a new CBA. ...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9...llion-to-$128M

I'll update the ItB cap page as soon as I resolve a hardware issue I'm experiencing.

[dalemurphy]

Keith,

In a conversation at texanstalk.com, it became clear that TJ will actually be a FA after this season. He signed an initial 5 year deal in 2005 and hasn't been re-upped. Apparently, the Chronicle story about his deal simply listed his base salaries wrong- starting them in 2007 instead of 2005.

I'm not 100% on this, but you may want to look into it. If he is a FA after this year, it certainly opens up the possibility of him not making this year's roster.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Keith,

In a conversation at texanstalk.com, it became clear that TJ will actually be a FA after this season. He signed an initial 5 year deal in 2005 and hasn't been re-upped. Apparently, the Chronicle story about his deal simply listed his base salaries wrong- starting them in 2007 instead of 2005.

I'm not 100% on this, but you may want to look into it. If he is a FA after this year, it certainly opens up the possibility of him not making this year's roster.

If you have links on any of this, send them my way or post them here. I honestly do not keep up regularly at tt.com, so I have no idea what's been discussed there.

That all said, here is what I know....

When Travis signed, it was widely reported as a 5-year contract. With his rookie year being 2005, that would logically mean that 2009 would be the final year of his deal. Technically, not true. Travis actually signed a 7-year contract with the final two years being voidable.

Travis' rookie contract has given me fits since the beginning, but I received some solid info on it a little over a year ago. What I had not known though, until your post, is that apparently those final two years (2010 and 2011) have been voided. In fact, the NFLPA still lists 2010 and 2011 as active for Travis... so either they are late in updating (not a first if so) or Travis has not had those last two 'dummy' seasons officially voided.

If they were voided, that could certainly explain why there was a sudden decrease in available cap room that I noted in an earlier post. Looks like it might account for about $1.4 million of it at least if that money needed to be accelerated.

The reason the Texans signed Travis to a 7-yr deal that was reported as a 5-yr deal was so that the team could prorate his option bonuses (yes, he had two of them with no true signing bonus) over those last couple years (2010 and 2011), thereby saving themselves some cap space up until this year. In case anyone is interested about voidable contracts, click here.

So hopefully that explains ItB.com's understanding of Travis' contract situation a little more. I imagine Travis would want the final two years voided because it might seem appealing to hit the potentially uncapped year as a free agent, especially if he turns it on this year. I am guessing he expects to earn much more than his contracted base salaries of $1,352,500 in 2010 and $1,675,000 in 2011.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Keith

If you have links on any of this, send them my way or post them here. I honestly do not keep up regularly at tt.com, so I have no idea what's been discussed there.

That all said, here is what I know....

When Travis signed, it was widely reported as a 5-year contract. With his rookie year being 2005, that would logically mean that 2009 would be the final year of his deal. Technically, not true. Travis actually signed a 7-year contract with the final two years being voidable.

Travis' rookie contract has given me fits since the beginning, but I received some solid info on it a little over a year ago. What I had not known though, until your post, is that apparently those final two years (2010 and 2011) have been voided. In fact, the NFLPA still lists 2010 and 2011 as active for Travis... so either they are late in updating (not a first if so) or Travis has not had those last two 'dummy' seasons officially voided.

If they were voided, that could certainly explain why there was a sudden decrease in available cap room that I noted in an earlier post. Looks like it might account for about $1.4 million of it at least if that money needed to be accelerated.

The reason the Texans signed Travis to a 7-yr deal that was reported as a 5-yr deal was so that the team could prorate his option bonuses (yes, he had two of them with no true signing bonus) over those last couple years (2010 and 2011), thereby saving themselves some cap space up until this year. In case anyone is interested about voidable contracts, click here.

So hopefully that explains ItB.com's understanding of Travis' contract situation a little more. I imagine Travis would want the final two years voided because it might seem appealing to hit the potentially uncapped year as a free agent, especially if he turns it on this year. I am guessing he expects to earn much more than his contracted base salaries of $1,352,500 in 2010 and $1,675,000 in 2011.

If Player participates in 60% or more of the offensive plays (excluding special teams) during any one of the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Regular Seasons,


AND


Player is on the active 80-man roster on the 23rd day preceding the first day of the 2004 League Year, then Player"s 2004 contract becomes null and void, at the Player's discretion. Player must notify the Club of his void decision on or before the 24th day preceding the first day of the 2004 League Year, through written notice via certified mail.

************************************
I'd thought these years were voidable at the option of the team, but guess in
some situations it's the player under contract who has the option to void a
year(s) in an existing contract ?